World Religions

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World Religions

• Tuesday 11/11-Monday 11/17

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3 Things to Consider

• When learning about different world religions
  there are 3 questions one must consider
• What is religion?
• Where does this religion come from?
• What impact has this religion had on civilization?

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What it is

• For many people religion is at the core of
  everything. It is the ultimate database for
  determining
• Right from wrong
• Good from evil
• How to live in the world
• How to prepare for a world yet to come

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Religion A definition

• Religion is a set of publicly shared beliefs,
  privately held convictions, and the ways that
  people express their faith.

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Gods

• Many religions are based on a belief in a god or
  multiple gods- this is called theism.

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So

• If I were to say that Islam is monotheistic, what
  would that mean?
• If the Roman religion was polytheistic, that
  means what?

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Early Polytheistic Religions

• The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians all had
  polytheistic religions.
• Egyptians had over 2,000 gods, including their
  pharohs.
• Greeks developed a polytheistic religion, with
  gods such as Zeus and Athena, on their own, but
  later integrated some Egyptian gods such as Isis.
• Romans adopted Greek polytheism, but renamed the
  Gods to reflect their own culture.

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Animism

• Many cultures, especially those indigenous to
  areas like North America and Australia, created a
  practice called animism.
• This involved giving human-like traits to
  inhumane objects. Believing that rocks, trees and
  animals had souls and that these spirits
  influence events.

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Quick write

• Think of a time when you have given human
  attributes to an inhuman object (a pet, car,
  etc.)
• Write about this incidence in your notebook,
  including ways you treated this object, things
  you may have said to it, etc. You have 5 minutes
  to record your thoughts.

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Timeline

• In front of you there is a timeline of important
  events for some of the worlds major religions.
  We are going to cover each of these religions in
  the next 4 days, and this is to give you a
  reference point as to when each religion came
  about.

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Confucianism

• Quick facts
• Created by Confucius
• Taught ethics based on responsible behavior and
  loyalty to family and society.
• Was not a religion until after his death when his
  followers used his teachings as a basis for
  Confucianism.

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Activity

• Confucius writings

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This Weeks Schedule

• Monday Hinduism notes
• Tuesday Judaism/Buddhism
• Wednesday Finish Judaism/Buddhism-video
• Thursday Religion Quiz (open notes) 35 points
• Friday History Day- 3 Sources Due (at least 1
  Primary Source)- 15 points

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Next Week

• We only have 2 days next week, and were going to
  devote them to History Day.
• Someone from the History Center will come to help
  you narrow your topic.
• You will need to have at least 5 notes from each
  of your 3 sources by Monday, and they will need
  to be cited correctly.

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Warm Up Monday

• What factors determine the people you can
• Be friends with?
• Go to school with?
• Be in activities with?
• Have a relationship with?
• Who decides these things for you? How do you
  decide who you can be around?

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Hinduism

• Hinduism is based in the belief that all living
  beings are reincarnated repeatedly after death.
• The form you take in life is directly related to
  the positive or negative quality of your actions
  in the life before. (Karma)

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Quick Facts

• Hinduism is a polytheistic religion
• The sacred scripture is called the Veda
• Contains hymns, chants and monastic doctrine.
• There is a trinity of gods who are the chief
  gods
• Brahma The Creator
• Vishnu The Preserver
• Shiva The Destroyer

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Quick Facts 2

• Traditional Hindu belief separates society into
  castes, or social classes

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• Higher caste consists of Priests, Rulers, and
  Warriors
• Lower caste consists of Farmers and Laborers.

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Castes

• Traditionally, the caste that a person is born
  into is where they remain for life.
• It determines their education, job opportunities,
  and marriage partners, as well as where they can
  live and in some cases who they may come into
  contact with.
• Traditionally marriage outside of ones own caste
  was strictly forbidden.

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Castes
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Questions

• In India a persons caste determines who they can
  be friends with, what job they can perform and
  who they can marry. Based on what you learned
  today and what you just saw in the video, tell me
  why castes could be a positive thing to have and
  why they could be a negative thing to have.

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Warm Up Wednesday

• Do you have any rituals or practices that you
  believe bring you luck? What are they?
• Example When I was playing softball in high
  school and college I would never step on the
  chalk line when I was entering or exiting the
  field, I thought it was bad luck to do so.

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Judaism

• The roots of both Christianity and Islam lay in
  the in Jewish religion, which arose sometime
  after 2000 B.C.
• It is said that the God of Abraham revealed
  himself to his chosen people through a series of
  prophets, such as Moses.

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Quick Facts

• Sacred scripture Torah
• Central Belief The human condition can be
  improved and a Messiah will someday bring about a
  state of earthly paradise.
• Jewish people have often been persecuted by other
  groups, and used as scapegoats for many
  occurrences.

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Israel

• The country of Israel is considered the Jewish
  homeland.
• It was carved out of Palestine in 1948, after the
  allies realized what had happened in the
  Concentration Camps.
• This gift of land sparked resentment from the
  Palestinians who also consider Israel a holy
  place.
• Many wars have been fought between the two
  groups, and many are still being fought to this
  day.

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Islam

• The word Islam means submission to God.
• Islam began in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, where
  Mohammed, the prophet, was born. It was at Mecca
  that he received the holy vision that commanded
  him to preach the true religion.

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Quick Facts

• Islam is based on 5 pillars of faith that one
  must follow
• Shahada There is no god but God
• Salat Formal prayer performed 5 times a day
  facing Mecca
• Zakat purification achieved through charity
• Saum fasting during Ramadan
• Hajj the pilgrimage to Mecca taken at least once
  during ones life.
• There are 2 predominant groups within the Islamic
  faith Sunni and Shiite
• People who practice Islam are referred to as
  Muslim

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Muslims and Christians

• Early on Muslims were very tolerant of other
  beliefs practiced within their lands- especially
  Judaism and Christianity because of the kinship
  between the religions.
• But over centuries feuds grew, especially when
  the crusades began and Christians tried to wipe
  out the Turkish Empire (whose people happened to
  be Muslim).

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Buddhism

• Created by Prince Siddhartha Gautama from
  Southern Nepal, Buddhism is deeply rooted in
  Hindu beliefs.
• It is said that Siddhartha, while riding through
  his kingdom, noticed the suffering of the people
  and denounced all of his worldly goods in favor
  for meditation and a humble existance.

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The Buddha

• Once Gautama achieved enlightenment (the lack of
  desire for any worldly good) through meditation
  he began to build his teachings and share them
  through a community of monks.

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4 Noble Truths

• His teachings revolved around the idea of karma
  and these 4 truths
• Existence is a realm of suffering
• Desire and the belief in ones own
  self-importance cause suffering
• Achievement of Nirvana (breaking away from any
  worldly desires) ends suffering.
• Nirvana is attained only by meditation, and
  following the righteous path in action, thought,
  and attitude.

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Activity

• Buddhist Prayer Flags
• In the Buddhist tradition prayer flags are used
  to bring luck to the people who hang them. You
  can either color in the pre-printed prayer flags,
  or create your own with one or more of the
  symbols. Pay attention to what they mean and what
  the colors represent.
• WindHorse uplifting energy
• Garuda wisdom, healing, hope, awareness
• Dragon gentle power, change, creativity
• Tiger confidence, fearlessness, kindness
• Snow Lion fearless joy, harmony, playfulness,
  beauty